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 Sokan
(Japan, 16th century)
Mountain
Landscape
Hanging scroll, ink
and color on paper
32 3/4 x 15 3/8 in. (83.2 x 39.1 cm)
Purchased with funds
provided by
the Far Eastern Art Council, M.76.133
Sokan is identified as the painter
of this landscape by a seal in the lower left corner. Nothing is
known of Sokan's life, but on stylistic grounds, he can be
placed in the second quarter of the sixteenth century. The
painting is within the tradition of monochromatic ink painting
established by Tensho Shubun (fl.1414-63) based on his study
of recent and contemporary Korean painting. Its closest model,
however, appears to be the work of Gakuo Zokyu, who was active
in the first two decades of the sixteenth century. Gakuo's style
is brought to mind by a number of factors. Foremost is the
complicated spatial treatment that gives the impression of a
two-dimensional presentation of the fore-, middle, and
background. Gakuo's style is also notable in the preoccupation
with atmospheric voids, isolation of peaks within the landscape,
and layered brushstrokes creating striking tonal contrasts.
Elements typical of the Muromachi period include using arbitrary
scale, weighting the composition to one side, and contrasting
strongly vertical land masses with voids. The harmonious
arrangement of a multitude of visual elements within a complex,
tripartite composition reveals a talented artist of the late
Muromachi period.
Paintings of scholars or
philosophers surrounded by remote pinnacles, tall pines,
waterfalls, and mists, with no company except that of country
people, reflect ideals familiar in Western literature and
paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These
themes of isolation, reflection, and simplicity are conventions
that Japanese artists and scholars, emulating the lifestyle and
aesthetic preoccupation of their Chinese mentors, readily
adopted. This reflective, somewhat romantic ink landscape
includes pale touches of red and yellow, which enhance its
lyrical quality.
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